Customer Reviews

The Joy of Home Wine Making

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It has taken over 40 years for someone to write a better winemaking primer that C.J.J. Berry's classic "First Steps in Winemaking," and this is it. If you've never made wine before and would like to try it, this is the book for you. It is well written, rich in anecdotes, and easily understood. If you've made wine for years and think you know what you're doing, I'm willing to bet you that "The Joy of Home Winemaking" will teach you much more than a mere thing or two.

Having been brought up through the ranks, as it were, on Berry's "First Steps..." and having never found it insufficient as an instructional and recipe reference, it is almost painful to admit that someone has bettered the master. But Terry Garey clearly has.

"The Joy..." is thoughtfully divided into three sections -- beginning, intermedient and advanced winemaking. Garey presents the basics, expands upon them, and then he expands some more. Not only is his presentation progressive, it is solidly educational. Best of all, the recipes are largely fresh, varied and inviting!

"The Joy..." is much more than a primer for making wine at home. The beginner invariably expects an identifiable relationship between the color, flavor and bouquet of the raw ingredients and the finished wine. While such a relationship exists, it is not the one that beginning winemakers expect. Garey goes where few have attempted to go before. He wants you to know what you will get, and that requires more than simply adjusting your expectations.

To accomplish this, Garey explains the principles and, to some degree, the chemistry that underlies the processes at work when wine is being made. He explains flavor extraction better than most, which spices produce which qualities, which fruits and vegetables complement each other when combined in the crock, which herbs and flowers work and which don't, and so on. The result is not merely education, but firm understanding, and that is requisite to ex! perimentation and invention. It is this that he does better than Berry, and for that alone he should be read and reread by every winemaking hobbiest.

I still highly recommend C.J.J. Berry's "First Steps in Winemaking" for the beginner, but I also highly recommend "The Joy of Home Winemaking" for the beginner and experienced alike. If you can only buy one, flip a coin. Better still, buy them both. The first is the classic. The second is destined to be.

I just bottled my first batch of Potatoe, Rasberry and Spiced Apple wines. To my surprise, it was really easy to make and turned out delicious even though it still isn't fully aged. Garey was right, IT JUST TAKES PATIENCE!

The book is written with the beginner in mind (myself included), with a great sense of humor and includes really good tips and many recipes to choose from. I only wish that I made more than one gallon of the Rasberry Wine, however. I feel more adventurous and willing to experiment now that my first batch turned out after nearly 6 months. In short, I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to start wine making as an enjoyable hobby without breaking the bank.

This is a great book. I started making wine about 5 years ago and this book has all the instruction I needed. Garey takes the mystery out of wine making. I have bought several books since, but find myself returning again and again to this one. Everything you need to know to get started is here and there are enough recipes to keep you going for a long time. If you are a beginning wine maker, this is the book for you.

This book is terrific for anyone thinking of trying winemaking. The author takes the beginner through the steps for a basic wine recipe, using few pieces of equipment. Then, for the brave who wish to continue, Garvey adds complexity to each successive recipe, leaving champagne-making for the end. Terrific book with great recipes and easy to follow tips. Just enough humor to encourage new winemaker, and plenty of recipes for the gardner with leftover produce -- from rasberries to potatoes

I read the reviews on Amazon prior to buying this book but mainly I bought because it seemed to be modeled after it's home brewing counter part, (The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing). I've been brewing beer for sometime and have spoken with several wine makers aboout making a transition to wine.

The first thing I noticed when I started reading this book is that it's poorly written. I'll provide some examples. There is a chapter in the beginning for making your first gallon of wine. The author starts with a list of equipment and then goes into instruction. She forgets to mention that you need 2 jugs, she gives you easy to follow steps but never explains why you need to do it. One part she tangents off of her destilled instruction to give you detailed syphoning (racking) instructions. Even the technique she gives you is horrible. She tells you to sanitize your mouth with alcohol and suck the wine to then of the tube then quickly stick in the jug. Gimme a break! If she wanted to offer a good technique there are plenty of better ones like an auto-syphon for $10 or to cap the jug and blow through a seperate hose.

Her poor writing style continues where she speaks goes off on other tangents about her husband, then suddenly starts using his name but never links the two things.

In later chapters she refers back to things she justified in the beginning like using PA (potential alcohol) instead of SG (specific gravity) readings. If you actually go back she doesn't ever offer a good explanation as to why.

Some of her instructions are just dumb. As I stated she tells you not to use gravity reading on a hydrometer because you don't need it. She says to use PA. The she gives you methods for adjusting your reading for temperature by using SG. Huh!? Her rationale is that the only way to adjust the reading is by using SG then re-converting. This is idiotic. Both scales are completely linear. Even the adjustments she gives you are wrong. She says add .9 instead of .009. This is fine for us experienced brewers and wine makers but this is in the beginners chapter of her book. Someone could be very confused by this.

Lastly the book seems to completely wrip off the title, format, etc... of Charlie Papazian's book but is nothing like it. It leaves critical steps out, never gets passed being a beginners book, barely touches on grape wine making and is generally a poor instructional guide to wine making.

Charlie has a motto in his book, "relax, have a homebrew". She tries to offer a couple of her own but they're obviously just poor ripoffs from his.

Her index is missing several terms she uses frequently such as "PA".

In summary you can learn everything this book has to offer by reading online "how to" articles. I suggest then going to some wine making forums and meeting people. Either that or find a better book.

Terry Garey takes a very casual, fun approach to making wine with various fruits. Her recipes are tried and true. (I won a gold medal with her strawberry wine recipe) The book is easy to read and informative. Best of all, it is easy to understand and follow for the person new to winemaking. Wine purist probably won't care for the book due to the casual and varied approach to making excellent wines from many different sources.

Only reason I am giving two stars is i bought this on the premise i was going to learn about making wine with grapes which is popular in the New York/Ontario area where i live. The author is more in love with wine from fruit. I have to admit it intriqued me, but, I think the title should be Making Fruit wine or something like it. Out side of that good book on basic wine making tips, I learned alot, just not about making wine from grapes.
This is more of a book for apple wine or berry wine, than for
Merlot or Cabernet...

This book does a good job at giving basic techniques and recipes for making fruit wines. Don't use there mead recipe though. Also, they mention boiling the corks to serilize then which is a no-no that will give you crumbly corks.

The title should be "The Joy of Home Fruit Winemaking" as it's really not about Grape wine... it's really focused almost completely on fruit wines. However, most of it applies to grape wine as well. I only give it 4 stars because the title and cover are misleading, but the book is excellent. I would recommend it to anyone interested in home winemaking whether you're interested in grape wine or fruit wine. It's well written in casual style that is very accessible and actually quite entertaining. I felt as though a friend was giving me a lesson in something new and providing insight and tips you probably wouldn't get in a more formal winemaking book or education. Highly highly recommended.

This book has become my bible for making home-made wine. I've worn the pages so much, I ordered another one just to keep around. Terry's dry, humorous wit and casual style for making wines is what every novice needs to get started in this fun and relaxing hobby. She begins with a little history lesson and a simple recipe to make a one-gallon batch of apple wine from concentrate. From there you learn more and more as each chapter progresses into more challenging (and rewarding) recipes and techniques. From fermentation to bottling, Terry makes learning how to make wine simple and fun without all the stuffiness and intimidation I've seen in other beginner's books. Again, though, this book is designed for someone starting at 'ground zero' and wanting a fun way to learn about making wine at home. If you've already gotten your feet wet or want a reference manual, find something else. But if you've always wanted to try making wine and don't know where to begin, then THIS is the book for you. Enjoy!